Your Personal And Financial Information At Risk

Your Personal And Financial Information At Risk (Added: July 21, 2009)

When a company checks your credit, your personal and financial information can be sold without your knowledge. (more)

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Your Personal And Financial Information At Risk

When a company checks your credit, your personal and financial information can be sold without your knowledge.

By: | WSPA-TV
Published: July 21, 2009

You may remember the Hyder's. We recently told you about how they got scammed for about $2,500 from a company claiming to offer them a loan on line. John says, "It was rough on us. Both me and her is on disability and these companies do this and it put us in a very bad situation." They say the only place they filled out information was Lending Tree Online. That company does not sell customer information. So how could the other company get their contact information? One possibility is from the credit bureaus. John says he spoke with Lending Tree and was told, "The credit reporting agencies like Equifax and the other two reputable companies had a certain amount of time that they can sell our contact information." It is called a trigger list. According to Bankrate.com, once you apply for a loan, the credit bureaus can sell your personal and financial information. The information is sold to lenders and brokers, but sometimes scammers get it as well. John says, "I think it is terrible. I think something needs to be done about it." According to the Consumer Data Industry Association the reason the information is sold is to give borrowers more choice, but some people say it encourages predatory lending. The Federal Trade Commission has said the practice is not illegal. Now the Hyder's say their email is getting bombarded with offers and their phone won't stop ringing with potential loan offers they say they know aren't legitimate.
John says, "They got me once. They won't get me again." You can protect yourself. You can stop credit bureaus from selling your information by calling 1-888-567-8688. The process takes about 5 days. You also need to register for the Do-Not-Call List by calling 888-382-1222 or at www.donotcall.gov. If you have been scammed by this, you need to contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov. They can go after scammers for misuse of consumer information. For more information click on this link.